“Coffee Makes You Smarter” is printed on a sign above the doorway in one of downtown’s most popular hangouts. On any given day, you will find crowds of workers buzzing in and out of the Boston Stoker coffee house on Second Street. Some stop by for a quick cup to go. Others like to take a few minutes out of their busy day and linger on one of the comfy couches. It’s also not unusual to come across several business meetings at any time during the day. After all, who wouldn’t rather meet in this cool, relaxed café than in a boring conference room?

Boston Stoker is Dayton’s gourmet coffee roaster. What started out as a cigar business in 1972 has transformed into a hometown staple that coffee enthusiasts have been enjoying since before the big chains came to town. President Don Dean knows more about coffee than most of us ever will, and he also knows it is important to have a presence downtown.

“Boston Stoker is Dayton’s coffee, and I wanted to be in the heart of Dayton,” says Dean. “We had a few shops in the suburbs and I realized that we needed to be downtown. It is an ideal location because we are where the people are, and we are helping create a “third-place” for workers and residents. We opened our downtown store in 2003 and it has been very successful ever since. It seems like some of our regular customers even consider this location their satellite office.”

All of Boston Stoker’s locations are unique, and the downtown location has a professional look with an eclectic, artsy vibe to match the neighboring Schuster Center. With everything from drip coffee to smoothies, not to mention Dean’s favorite – cappuccino, the coffee shop helps build a sense of community in the downtown neighborhood.

As for the name, Dean explains that Boston Stoker means absolutely nothing. “It’s a name I just came up with because I thought it sounded nice.”

Maybe coffee really does make you smarter - downtown Dayton is not only our region’s largest job center, it is also home to a lot of coffee drinkers.